Reliance Jio ready for ‘small-scale’ launch

Reliance Jio Infocomm, the wireless arm of billionaire Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries, is ready for a small-scale launch of 4G services in select areas including Mumbai by 28 December.

While the company's network is up and running, the pan-India commercial launch could be delayed till April-Jun 2016, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch said in a report. ]

The delay is to ensure a reliable and stable network, the note said said, adding, in a scenario Jio launches by 28 December, it is unsure whether the company will be disclosing price-points. Further, it is unsure that whether it will be an extension of services which are currently being offered to employees as part of a beta launch among select users, it said.

''We continue to maintain our view that Jio intends to position itself as an 'aspirational brand' and with premium services (high-speed) being offered, the company is unlikely to target average revenues per user below Rs300. As we do not expect the initial pricing from Jio to be aggressive, we expect a relief rally for Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular after Jio commercially launches as the market is largely discounting higher competition from Jio,'' the note added added.

The analyst firm, which did checks on Reliance Jio's beta tests, is  of opinion that voice over LTE (Vo-LTE) calls are ''working well in Mumbai'' even while travelling and inside buildings.

The data speeds range from 18-30 MBPS while travelling and inside buildings to as high as 60-70 MBPS when outside.

''We believe this is largely due to an empty network Jio currently has. We remain unsure if Jio network is offering similar speeds outside Mumbai, particularly in circles where it only has 2300 MHz,'' it added.